That the Wizards won a first-round playoff series for the second year in a row shouldn't be a major shock to anyone. Given the expectations they had this season, this was the bare minimum after Sunday's Game 4 rout of the Toronto Raptors 125-94.

But they didn't just beat a team that swept the season series 3-0. They dominated when it counted most, came out of it relatively healthy with some extra time to prepare what's likely to be the No. 1 seed Atlanta Hawks:

The small lineups. Going away from Kris Humphries in favor of Drew Gooden and Rasual Butler for Otto Porter worked. And keeping Porter and Gooden on the floor with Paul Pierce, John Wall and Bradley Beal, or with another big in the middle to run pick-and-rolls opened up this offense into a more free-flowing operation. A franchise-record 15 made threes in Game 4 is the result. And the Wizards' defense was much better equipped to compete with Toronto's three-guard lineups in return. Now they are in better position to compete with the Atlanta Hawks, who might not have as much time to prepare since they're still involved in a series with the Brooklyn Nets. The longer this one goes, the better for the Wizards. If the series ends in six games or less, they'll start the second-round series on Sunday.

Marcin Gortat's dominance. The Raptors don't have much size and lack rim protectors, which made Gorat's absence from fourth quarters in the regular season puzzling at times. With a more fluid lineup, he shot 29 of 39, or 74.3%, from the field in the series. He shot 14 of 15 in first quarters alone. That's 93.3%. He also averaged 10 rebounds per game and only played more than 29 minutes in a game once.

The big shot-making of Paul Pierce. Every time the Raptors thought they had a chance, Pierce slammed the door shut. In Game 1, it was his game-high 20 points and go-ahead three-pointer in overtime. In Game 3 it was Pierce scoring 11 of his 18 points in the final 2:38 to pull out that victory. Sunday, with the Wizards ahead by 16 to start the third quarter but traditionally a slow team coming out of the locker room, Pierce's pair of threes inspired an even bigger rout. His ability to create his shot off the dribble and using pump fakes is why Pierce is here for $5 million on a shorter-term deal and why the Wizards allowed Trevor Ariza, who wanted $10 million per over more years, to walk. Offensively, he's not nearly as versatile as Pierce even at age 37. And just as important, Pierce has made Otto Porter a better player alone by showing the second-year forward how he has to prepare and carry himself to be his eventual replacement.

Rebounding and foul shooting. The Wizards won in these areas in every game. They were plus-39 on the board and plus-29 in free throw attempts. Take a look at how the primary ball-handlers did: Wall alone went from shooting 0 foul shots in Game 1 to 28 in the last three. He made 24 of them for 85.7%; Beal got to the line a total of 25 times to make 20, 80%.

The game preparation of coach Randy Wittman. He won't get much credit for anything but the fact is Wittman is 8-1 in first-round series. Whether he can duplicate this success beyond the first round is another matter, but he's clearly more adept at adjustments in seven-game series. During the regular season when teams are playing multiple games during the week with little or no rest and not a lot of time to focus. Having an older team, even going back to training camp, there was a bigger plan to save Pierce, Gooden and Butler. He criticized his team's effort repeatedly (and Gooden admitted that yes, they were in "cruise control") and they put forth the best 48 minutes of the season in Game 4. If Wittman can get this sort of play out of his team for the second round, they have a chance to advance to the conference finals.

If anyone on the Wizards deserves some time off to rest it's Bradley Beal, who currently ranks fifth in the NBA in total minutes played. While his teammates were off on vacation, many of them at relaxing beaches far away, Beal was making appearance after appearance in Los Angeles as part of All-Star weekend.

The one drawback of Beal being selected as an All-Star and a contestant in the three-point contest was that he got little rest in the past week. He only made it one round in the three-point contest and played 16 minutes in the All-Star Game, but all of it was enough to soak up much of the free time he's used to getting this time of the year.

"Not as much as I needed to," Beal said when asked if he got any rest over the break. "I guess that's one of the downfalls of being an All-Star."

The workload has really added up for Beal. He leads the Wizards in minutes (36.4/g) and is one of two players on the team who hasn't missed a game all season.

Beal did have Monday and Tuesday off, but that was after a crosscountry flight and a whirlwind of a weekend. He called the media and sponsorship appearances "overwhelming." Many All-Stars have been there before and know what to expect, but Beal was a first-time participant.

Beal and the Wizards will be given no breaks with their upcoming schedule. They have four back-to-back sets in the next three weeks and begin with a stretch of five games in seven days. Those games will feature the Cavs, Warriors, Bucks, Sixers and the Hornets. Charlotte is the only team of that bunch currently out of the playoff picture, but they have already beaten the Wizards twice this season.

"I will definitely be smart," he said. "I just gotta take care of my body. Listen to my body."

Beal says getting treatment from the Wizards' training staff in between games will be crucial. He also hopes to not over-exert himself in games by trusting his teammates and not trying to carry the load with John Wall out.

Though Beal may be tired from the weekend, he came out of it feeling pretty good about how he represented himself and the Wizards on the All-Star stage. He scored 14 points in 16 minutes in a game featuring the best players on the planet.

Beal now wants to make it an annual thing.

"I defintiely think it can push you more down the line. For me, it's just motivation to continue geting better," he said.

The Wizards entered the All-Star break having won seven of their previous nine games since John Wall went down with an injury, so a natural question to head coach Scott Brooks looking ahead to their first game back on Thursday was how he and his team can keep that momentum going in the second half.

Brooks immediately pointed to the Wizards' schedule, which gets notably more difficult in the coming weeks. They have a stretch of games over the next month-plus that features the best teams in basketball and Brooks knows that will be a big factor in whether they can sustain what they have going.

"Definitely the schedule gets tougher," Brooks said. "We've got a lot of good teams coming up starting with the first one in Cleveland. It's five games in seven nights against really good teams."

In the next five weeks, the Wizards will play 15 of 17 games against teams currently holding playoff spots. That includes the Cavaliers, Warriors, Celtics, Spurs (twice), Raptors and Timberwolves.

That will represent a marked shift for the Wizards, who to this point have the weakest strength of schedule. Though they boast impressive wins over the Celtics, Rockets, Raptors and Timberwolves, they are about to play teams of that caliber more frequently with few nights off to rest. They have four back-to-back sets all in the next three weeks.

The upcoming stretch has been on the Wizards' minds for a while. Several players referenced their tough schedule before the All-Star break, knowing those wins leading up to the time off could prove extra important in hindsight.

The Wizards return to action on Thursday night against the Cavaliers, a team that has already beaten them twice. Both of those games were against the old version of the Cavs before they traded much of their roster at the deadline.

Gone are Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Isaiah Thomas, Iman Shumpert, Jae Crowder and Channing Frye. But they still have that guy LeBron James.

"Shoot, they looked good the other time, right? They beat us twice with the other group," Brooks noted. "LeBron is going to go down as one of the best ever. They are younger and more athletic. They're a good team and they still have an All-Star in [Kevin] Love who hasn't played because he's hurt."

The Cavs haven't lost in three games since the All-Star break and that includes road wins over the Celtics and Thunder. They look rejuvenated and, at least so far, improved from the aging, incongruent roster they had just weeks ago.

The Wizards have also been playing better lately, of course, and this upcoming stretch will be a major test for them. Wall has been out three weeks since he had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He is likely to miss another three-to-five weeks. The Wizards will have to get through this without him.

If they can remain competitive and even beat some of these elite teams, they will only gain more confidence in their potential. That's the way Brooks plans to approach the schedule.

"We still want to be a better team when John comes back," Brooks said. "But the schedule definitely gets a lot tougher."